Rebranding Wastewater Fuels to Byohm
Brand 360 Applications
Perception
Culture
Operations
When a breakthrough science business needs a brand that can open doors with investors, clarity and confidence are everything. We partnered with Byohm (formerly Waste Water Fuels) to take them from an early-stage business with a long, unmemorable name to a boldly positioned brand with a compelling identity, a single-page website, and an investor deck ready for their upcoming funding round. All at speed.
Byohm had developed genuinely groundbreaking technology with their foam that acts as a biological infrastructure platform that saves energy, makes energy, and treats wastewater at scale. However, their existing brand wasn't communicating any of that. Trading under the name Wastewater Fuels, the business faced an immediate credibility problem: a long, generic name that undersold the sophistication of the science and failed to differentiate them in a competitive cleantech landscape. With an investment round on the horizon and serious ambitions for growth, they needed a brand that could match the brilliance of their technology.
The challenge was compounded by a sensitive commercial consideration: the core IP. The unique product that makes Byohm's process possible needed to be protected. Any naming or visual identity work had to communicate what the business does without revealing too much about the science behind how it does it.
We began by immersing ourselves in the business, speaking at length with CEO Martyn Lathbury about the product, the science, the commercial landscape, and the ambitions behind the funding round. Rather than taking the brief at face value, we pushed past the obvious naming territory. Most businesses in this space lead with outcomes such as energy saving, sustainability and wastewater treatment. But Byohm's real differentiator was the unique IP at the heart of their process. This is what became our creative anchor.
After multiple internal brainstorming sessions and over 50 naming options explored, we presented three shortlisted names. Two made the final cut: Byogenix and Byohm/Byoam. Byohm emerged as the stronger choice, rooted in microbiomes and biological process, with "ohm" as a unit of electrical resistance directly relevant to how the technology works. The name communicates the science without exposing it, and at five letters it was sharp and memorable.
Two distinct visual identity concepts were developed in parallel. "Byogenix" positioned the business as a catalyst for change sitting at the intersection of physics, engineering, and biochemistry. The identity was dynamic and adaptive, with a living logo mark that could shift and evolve to reflect a business in constant motion.
The second concept (chosen by the client) was rooted in the idea that microscopic changes create global impact. Anchored by three core principles: the technology and microbial colonies as heroes, a commitment to a sustainable future, and the power of tiny systems to change the world. The visual identity drew on naturally occurring patterns in nature that repeat across scales, using the relationship between the microscopic and the macro to tell Byohm's story visually. A brand mechanic was created to add visual interest and communicate the harmony of microbes and biochemistry without ever revealing the IP itself.
With the brand established, we moved quickly to deliver the immediate commercial priorities: a single-page website designed and built to support the funding round, an investor deck built to communicate Byohm's proposition with confidence and clarity, and a full brand toolkit and tone of voice to give the team everything they needed to show up consistently.
The team's depth of knowledge and commitment to the project were impressive.
Kinga Pluta
Marketing Specialist, Byohm
Breaking our own rules
Usually we advise brands to stop talking about the product and start talking about the benefits. For Byohm, we did the opposite and instead championed their groundbreaking technology.
FAQs.
Investors back businesses they believe in and belief is built as much on perception as it is on numbers. A confident, coherent brand signals that the business is serious, credible, and ready to scale, giving investors the reassurance that their capital will be in safe hands. For early-stage businesses especially, a strong brand can make all the difference.
We start by understanding the business deeply including its science, audience, ambitions, and competitors. For Byohm, we wanted to create a name that was short, brandable, related to the science, and would work for the whole business. We created over 50 naming options before arriving at a shortlist of three, each rooted in the specific language and principles of the business rather than generic cleantech territory. The right name is often strategic and creative.
The key is shifting the focus from the how to the what and the why. By communicating the outcomes and ambition of the technology rather than the mechanics behind it, you can create a strong brand narrative without revealing too much. For Byohm, that meant building the brand around the relationship between microscopic systems and global impact, telling a compelling story visually and verbally without ever exposing the proprietary process at its core. Great brand strategy can protect as much as it can promote.
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Vol 3D